Site menu:

Good News - Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center is open -
Map It.
Please visit us Mon-Sat 10am-5pm. It's free. It is the first longhouse built in Seattle since the last one
was burnt down to force the Duwamish out of Seattle. It was made possible by the generosity of many
including the descendents of Seattle's early pioneers. Now, we need to clarify our federal tribal status
to complete the circle.

Duwamish Fight for Federal Tribal Recognition

Please Help - The tribe is suing the federal government for recognition--The Duwamish Tribe was
recognized at the end of the Clinton administration - only to have that positive determination overturned by
the incoming Bush administration. If you can help, now is the time. Donations can be made through
our office or on-line.

The Duwamish Tribe
In 1983, after more than 100 years of broken
United States treaty promises, the Dkhw’Duw’Absh established
Duwamish Tribal Services as a non-profit 501[C]3 organization to provide social
and cultural services to the Duwamish Tribal community.

In the absence of federal recognition, funding,
and human services, Duwamish Tribal Services has struggled to provide numerous
social, educational, health, and cultural programs. The Duwamish Tribe currently
has around 600 enrolled members. Many more people have Dkhw’Duw’Absh
ancestry but have chosen to enroll with federally recognized Tribes.

In 2004, Duwamish Tribal Services created Duwamish
Management Corporation as a For Profit business owned by the Dkhw’Duw’Absh.
Its purpose is to create businesses whose profits will fund activities and
programs that strengthen the economic well-being of the Dkhw’Duw’Absh
community and our cultural way of life. Our goal is subsistence, our natural
human right to feed our families and to care for ourselves, our community,
and our ancestral homeland, both physically and spiritually, using the resources
of our people, the land, and the sea.

Dkhw’Duw’Absh have created
programs that help our culture survive. Our cultural heritage group T’ilibshudub
(“Singing Feet”) teaches traditional oratory, dancing, singing and ceremonial
practices to our community, other First Peoples, and the public. T’ilibshudub
helps Dkhw’Duw’Absh children do better in school. T’ilibshudub
helps preserve the Lushootseed language, our dances, our songs, and helps
support our native artisans and our elders, who are our Tradition Keepers.

Seattle's First People, the Dkhw’Duw’Absh,
welcomes support from all sources, public and private. Contributions to Duwamish
Tribal Services, a 501(c)(3) organization registered with the State of
Washington and the IRS, are tax-deductible.

To support the Duwamish Tribe and the Duwamish
Longhouse and Cultural Center, contact the Honorable Cecile Hansen at Duwamish
Tribal Services, 4705 West Marginal Way SW, Seattle, 98106, or call (206)
431-1582 or email us at dts@qwestoffice.net.